The aim of this article is to evaluate selected tourism development strategies in Poland, in the context of strategic planning, stakeholders' participation, and sustainable development principles. A questionnaire evaluation of strategy (44 questions) was established and based on measurement scales developed and validated by other authors in earlier studies. The five authors of the study rated 37 tourism development strategies in 13 provinces, 11 cities, 5 counties, 6 municipalities, and 2 other areas. Analysis revealed that they implement paradigms of sustainable development of tourism to only a small extent. Definitely higher quality is documented for higher levels of administrative division. The highest rated domains of the tourism development strategy in the examined documents are Strategic Planning Indicators and Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to present the changes in political and socioeconomic conditions after 25 years of transformation and how it provided to adopt new methodology in tourism planning. It shows the possibilities offered by the use of the foresight process in planning the development of tourism in Poland. Since one of the main foresight goals is to identify trends, the paper takes attempt to verify trends that occurred in Poland after 1989 and if they have now and will have in the near future influence on Polish tourism. Detailed objective is to characterize the systemic transformation and its impact on the tourism economy. Design/methodology/approach-Paper is the review, which used literature, legislation and strategic documents query. It also includes comparative analysis. Findings-The analysis of the political and economic changes that have taken place in Poland over the last 25 years shows that they were positive for the development of tourism base. The impact of globalization and global trends is now clearly noticeable also in Poland. Political and economic changes allow the use of foresight methodology in studies on the future of tourism while maintaining its main attributes: anticipation, participation, action, networking, vision. Research limitations/implications-The analysis included the impact of political changes and social trends on the tourist economy. Proposals that show the positive aspects of these changes relate to tourism and present extensive opportunities to create scenarios, both at the national and regional levels. Practical implications-The analysis forms the basis for the activities of tourism entities in Poland. It shows the characteristics for the future of the tourism market particularly the demand side. Social implications-The analysis of changes in systemic and social trends enables anticipation of changes in tourism as a social phenomenon. Originality/value-The paper presents the historical basis for the development of tourism in Poland after political changes in relation to the planning of tourism by using the methodology of foresight. It also presents these phenomena and social trends that have an impact on the development of tourism.
JEL Classification: Z32Streszczenie: Celem niniejszego artykułu jest ocena wybranych strategii rozwoju turystyki w Polsce w kontekście zasad planowania strategicznego, udziału interesariuszy oraz zasad zrównoważonego rozwoju turystyki. Kwestionariusz oceny strategii zawierający 44 pytania utworzono na podstawie skal pomiarowych opracowanych i zweryfikowanych przez Simpsona [2001] i Ruhanen [2004]. Sześcioro autorów artykułu oceniło 34 strategie rozwoju turystyki w regionach: 13 strategii wojewódzkich, 5 powiatowych, 6 gminnych, 8 miejskich i 2 innych obszarów. Analiza strategii wykazała, że w niewielkim stopniu realizują one paradygmaty zrównoważonego rozwoju turystyki. Zdecydowanie wyższą jakością charakteryzują się dokumenty opracowane dla wyższych szczebli podziału administracyjnego. Najlepiej ocenianymi domenami strategii rozwoju turystyki w badanych dokumentach są wskaźniki planowania i analiza środowiska.
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